GILTS

SHOCKER!

The Investment Management Association (IMA) has appointed the former director general of the AIC Daniel Godfrey to replace Richard Saunders as its chief executive.

Demand for Standard Life Investments' popular risk-based MyFolio fund range has helped the business grow assets under management to almost £80bn, the company said today.

BP has raised its dividend by 12.5% to 9c a share, but reported a fall in profits in the third quarter.

Brett Williams, the former head of platform giants Skandia and Cofunds, has moved into the enterprise investment scheme (EIS) market with a series of launches through his new venture Old Burlington Investments (OBI).

Spanish banking giant Santander has seen its profits tumble by more than 90% in the third quarter after bad property loans in Spain battered its books.

Prime Minister David Cameron has been accused of revealing that tomorrow's GDP figure will meet positive expectations, in an apparent slip-up that could have breached the embargo on the official data.

Investors across Europe and the US are in flight-mode this afternoon, with US markets opening sharply lower as the weak corporate earnings season continues to plague sentiment.

Nationwide is considering making a bid for the 316 bank branches that Royal Bank of Scotland has been forced to sell, according to reports.